The boss of Dorna, the commercial rights holder of MotoGP, Carmelo Ezpeleta, says that an all-electric motorcycle racing series could launch as soon as 2019.
Electric has cemented itself on the world stage with the Formula E Championship but apart from electric classes at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Isle of Man TT, two-wheel, electric racing has yet to kick off.
However, while recently speaking with Motorsport, Ezpeleta said an electric support series for MotoGP is being planned for 2019 with five races.
“The project is very advanced. It’s most likely that in 2019 we will have several support races [for MotoGP] in Europe.
“We already have four offers from brands on the table. It will be one-make, with all bikes the same, and the races will be a minimum of 10 laps long,” Ezpeleta said.
Word has it that a number of MotoGP’s independent teams will be guaranteed slots for the electric championship if they want to participate and that four manufactures have already offered to supply the grid of 18 bikes.
The bikes themselves are expected to reach up to 200 km/h (124 mph) and Ezpeleta wants them to be recharged using solar panels, to “leave something profitable for the circuits where the series races.”
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